MTS, a unit of Sistema Syam TeleServices Limited (SSTL), has reportedly added around 800,000 customers in the month of October alone, with the launch of two low cost Android smartphones – MTS MTag 3.1 and MTS Livewire priced under US$ 100.

According to reports, a spokesperson for MTS has said that they were able to get 7,95,523 customers in the festive month of October because they gave the CDMA consumers the option to choose from a variety of Android phones at different price points and they also initiated a lot of awareness campaign across the country. He added that the launch of the two smartphones in the festive season helped propel their growth.

As per sources, pre-paid users received 150 minutes of calls, 150 SMSs and 150 MB of data free every month for 12 months, with the smartphone. Whereas postpaid users were offered a 12 month contract during which users had to pay Rs 250 each month, against which they received 250 minutes of calls, 250 SMSs and 250 MB of data free each month.

Uganda’s telecom companies have reportedly been issued a warning that the licence renewal applications will be considered on the basis of the quality of service (QoS) offered. According to reports, Nyombi Thembo, State Minister (Information Technology), has said that there is no way they will renew a licence for a player offering poor services. He added that the government’s aim is to guarantee value for money by driving improvements in the quality of the services offered to the customers.

As per sources, the report on QoS released by the Uganda Communication Commission last week reflected the poor performance of all the mobile network operators in the region wherein all six operators exceeded the maximum 2 percent rate of calls blocked or dropped. A blocked call is a failed call attempt due to network failure, where as a dropped call is one which gets connected successfully but is terminated ahead of time by the provider. MTN Uganda had the highest number of blocked at 11.1 percent while Airtel Uganda had the highest number of blocked calls at 15.2 percent.

Mozambican mobile operators mCel and Vodacom Mozambique (VM) have been formally issued with national 3G licence extensions, which are valid for 15 years apiece. Under the terms of the licences, as set out by the National Communications Institute of Mozambique (INCM), the pair are obliged to expand their 3G networks to all districts of the country by 31 December 2015, with a particular focus on the so-called ‘development corridors’ and tourist resorts, as well as improving their existing networks in areas which are considered to be strategic locations. INCM president Isidoro da Silva confirmed that the licences encompass frequencies in the 1900MHz and 2100MHz spectrum bands. mCel CEO Mamudo Ibraimo indicated that the first cities to benefit from his company’s nationwide 3G focus will be Quelimane, Chimoio and Mocuba.

According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, in September 2006 state-owned mCel was awarded the country’s first UMTS 3G concession, while its sole rival at that date, VM, opted not to submit an application at that time. In 2008, however, VM had a change of heart and successfully acquired a 3G licence from the INCM; its W-CDMA network had been expected to launch in the third quarter of 2009, but eventually began offering commercial services in February 2010. The latest move effectively brings mCel and Vodacom in line with yet-to-launch third player Movitel, which received its own 15-year UMTS concession in January 2011.

France Telecom-Orange has announced an agreement with fellow operator SFR to deploy optical fibre technology covering millions of households in less densely-populated areas of mainland France. The fibre-optic deployment agreement drawn up by France Telecom-Orange and SFR covers around 9.8 million homes in agglomerations where ‘both operators have redundant deployment projects’, the statement read. Under the terms of the agreement, SFR will serve 2.3 million of these households and France Telecom-Orange will serve 7.5 million.

A spokeswoman for Orange confirmed the plan, Reuters reports, but declined to confirm whether or not the two carriers would share the investment of nearly EUR5 billion (USD6.8 billion). The fibre investment forms part of France Telecom-Orange’s plan to spend EUR2 billion by 2015 on fibre expansion to reach 60% of French households (target date 2020) – aided by private-operator investment. SFR declined to comment on the release.

Telecom Italia has launched fibre-optic services in areas of Milan, Rome, Turin and Bari. The service requires an activation fee of EUR 121, which can be paid in installments over 24 months. The basic service offering speeds of 100/10Mbps costs EUR 75.63 per month, but is offered for customers signing up before year-end at EUR 45.38 per month. Including unlimited calls to fixed lines and calls to mobiles at EUR 0.16 per minute, the fibre service is priced at EUR 71.59 per month.

According to industry research reports, the mobile data usage in India has gone up by almost 35 percent between June 2011 and September 2011. Sources suggest that analysts have credited the rise in data usage to increased availability and affordable pricing, not just for people living in urban areas, but for people from different income segments.

As per reports, there were a total of 26 million mobile internet users in March 2011 which went up to 35 million in September 2011. Industry analysts predict tremendous growth in mobile data usage and expect this number to increase to 41 million users by the year end.

India saw the introduction of the 3G services towards the end of last year, which has increased the use of the internet on mobile handsets, due to increased speeds and better features. Further, easy accessibility and competitive pricing are significant in contributing towards the increased adoption of the mobile phone in the country.

Uganda’s wireless operators are all failing to meet minimum quality of service (QoS) requirements, according to a report published by the telecoms watchdog the Uganda Communication Commission (UCC). The UCC survey was carried out between 30 May 2011 and 2 September 2011, and during this period all six operators exceeded the maximum 2% rate of calls blocked or dropped. A blocked call is a failed call attempt due to network failure, whilst dropped calls are those which have connected successfully but are terminated prematurely by the provider. The country’s largest provider by subscribers, South African-owned MTN Uganda blocked 11.1% of calls, and dropped 4.5%. Meanwhile, Indian-owned Airtel Uganda blocked the highest proportion of calls, with 15.2% failing to connect, although it was far more successful once calls were connected, dropping only 3.2%. Uganda Telecom fared slightly better with 11.4% of calls blocked, and 3.4% dropped. French-owned Orange Uganda, the country’s second-youngest cellco, having launched in March 2009, came the closest to reaching UCC targets, with 3.8% of calls blocked and 2.8% dropped. The UCC did not report results for the smallest cellco by subscribers and most recent market entrant, i-Tel.

During the UCC’s previous QoS survey, in December 2010, Warid Telecom performed the worst of all the country’s telcos; the most recent analysis indicated significant improvement from the UAE-backed company, reducing the proportion of blocked calls from 25.8% to 8.8% whilst dropped calls were reduced from 8.0% to 4.2%. Warid’s progress was the result of improvements to capacity and coverage carried out by Chinese vendor Huawei in June 2011.

According to Tech Central, MTN South Africa plans to double the number of 3G base stations in service across the country during the next two years to 6,000, extending wireless broadband access to previously underserved parts of the country. However, in order to do so, the cellco must re-farm a block of pre-existing spectrum in the 900MHz band. Chief technology officer Lambo Kanagaratnam said that MTN hopes to have 150 900MHz 3G base transceiver stations (BTS) in service by the end of 2011, with 900MHz services extended to around 1,000 BTS within the next twelve months. Within two years the operator hopes to cover between 80% and 85% of the South African population with its 3G network. Rural areas earmarked for coverage include: Limpopo, Mpumalanga, the Free State, the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape.

In related news, Kanagaratnam said that the cellco will continue to press ahead with its trials of Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, despite the lack of available frequencies in the country. As such, MTN intends to demonstrate the 4G service – which it piloted in Gauteng in July – in Cape Town at the AfricaCom conference this week.

Safaricom, Kenya’s largest mobile operator in terms of subscribers, has announced plans to roll out its own independent fibre-optic network, in a bid to secure a larger share of the data market, and reduce its reliance on the voice market. The move will see the operator following in the footsteps of rival Telkom Kenya which signposted its intention to shift strategic focus in 2010; in March 2011 Telkom’s plan started to bear fruit, when it launched fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband services in Muthaiga and Parklands, two of Nairobi’s most affluent suburbs. Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore told Business Daily Africa: ‘This is in support of our strategic direction to be the regional leader in broadband provision; the new direction will give us greater control of the quality of service offered to our customers’. The cellco has now started its search for company to build and maintain the inland network, which is expected to cost in the region of KES1 billion (USD10.22 million).

Whilst the bulk of its broadband coverage is provided by WiMAX connectivity, in February 2010 – alongside rival telcos Jamii Telecom Ltd (JTL) and Wananchi Online – Safaricom activated a fibre-optic link between Nairobi and Mombasa, using infrastructure leased from the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC). Safaricom signed up for a pair of the fibres in a 20-year lease on the Nairobi-Mombasa line for KES288 million.

Union Temporal Fibra Optica Colombia, a joint venture between TV Azteca and Total Play has been selected by Colombia’s Ministry of Information Technology and Communications (MTIC) to deploy and maintain a nationwide fibre-optic network. The network will connect 1,078 municipalities, and consist of 15,000km of optical fibre. As previously reported by CommsUpdate, the project is a public-private partnership, allocated COP415.8 billion (USD216.6 million) by the government; it aims to increase the number of internet connections in the country to 8.8 million by 2014. Expected to take 30 months to deploy, the MTIC claims that the network will increase the proportion of the population with broadband access to 90%.

Ghana’s telecoms watchdog the National Communications Authority (NCA) has imposed fines totalling GHC1.2 million (USD751,990) on five domestic mobile network operators – MTN, Vodafone, Airtel, Expresso and Tigo – for delivering poor services to end users. The penalties, which cover the third quarter of this year, are part of measures introduced by the NCA to improve overall quality of services and ensure end users have value for money. Airtel was fined the most – GHC350,000 – after it experienced high levels of network congestion (particularly in Tamale, Sekondi-Takoradi and the Upper East and West, and Greater Accra regions), while MTN and Expresso were each fined GHC300,000. Vodafone was fined GHC150,000 and Tigo received the lowest fine of GHC100,000, the NCA said.

Global public Wi-Fi hotspot numbers are set to grow from 1.3 million in 2011, to 5.8 million by 2015, a 350 percent increase. The number does not include 'community hotspots', where users share their own Wi-Fi access point with others, which add an additional 4.5 million worldwide, according to a report released by the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) and compiled by Informa. The findings show that 58 percent of operators - including 47 percent of mobile operators - believe Wi-Fi hotspots are either very important or crucial to their customers' experience; offload busy mobile broadband networks; and provide a value-added services platform. The survey found that smartphone connections to Wi-Fi hotspots will soon overtake laptops globally. Laptops now represent less than half (48%) of the connections to hotspots, smartphones account for 36 percent and tablets 10 percent.

Tigo Ghana has reduced its on-net and off-net call rates even further ahead of Glo mobile’s launch in Ghana on 17 November 2011. According to reports, Tigo Ghana is offering customers new call rates of US$ 0.02 per minute for on-net calls and $ 0.058 per minute for off-net calls. As per sources, Carlos Caceres, CEO, Tigo Ghana has said that the new rates will replace all other promotional call rates on Tigo. He added that the many call tariff plans and promotions in the telecom market are very complex for the average phone user to understand and they make it difficult for customers to know how much they are spending.

Mr. Caceres also said that for those who were on more than one network, the several tariff plans becomes even more confusing because it is difficult to monitor the different charges for different locations at any point in time. He said the new rates Tigo had announced were straight forward and they remain unchanged for 24 hours every day, no matter the location or time of day, so customers do not have to get confused about different charges at different times of the day. The CEO has also hinted that Tigo may also be reviewing their data packages to better suit the customers’ needs.

Danish telecoms regulator, the National IT and Telecom Agency (Telestyrelsen), has announced that mobile termination rates for the country’s four mobile network operators – TDC, Telia Denmark, Telenor Denmark and Hi3G Access Denmark (3) – will be lowered from 1 March 2012. Telestyrelsen has confirmed that the mobile termination rate for voice calls will drop from the current rate of DKK0.33 (USD0.061) per minute to DKK0.22 per minute, while the rate for text messaging will fall from DKK0.16 per SMS to DKK0.12. The regulator has also submitted a draft decision which seeks to impose the same mobile termination rates on mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Lycamobile as the country’s four network operators. Lycamobile launched mobile services over the network of TDC in July 2010.

Lebanon’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has presented a study showing that prices for consumer and corporate ADSL broadband internet packages with capped data usage are now cheaper than the average across Arab countries, following the recent connection to additional international bandwidth and a state decree which mandated price drops and speed increases. Although a significant number of areas in the country are still awaiting the full implementation of new speeds via DSL access network upgrades and domestic fibre backbone rollouts, the retail price reductions have been experienced nationwide, whilst wholesale international bandwidth costs are also now lower than the Arab country average. The TRA’s presentation showed that new ADSL tariffs for low data usage customers, capped at 2GB per month, were priced at 23% below the Arab average, while ‘high-usage’ (6GB) ADSL tariffs were priced at the regional average (USD28), although data speeds were not compared. In the corporate broadband segment, Lebanon’s prices came out as significantly lower than average using the same comparison criteria: by 59% in the case of 2GB plans and 75% lower for a 6GB monthly tariff. International bandwidth and international leased circuits are now ‘significantly’ lower than the Arab average, the regulator added. Prior to the market shake-up, a similar regional study published by Bahrain’s national telecoms regulator showed that Lebanon had the highest-priced broadband in the Middle East for low-speed (256kbps), ‘high’ usage (6GB a month) services, as of March 2011.

In July 2011 the Lebanese communications ministry announced that ISPs were to be granted retail and wholesale access to increased international internet capacity via the India-Middle East-Western Europe (IMEWE) submarine cable, and the promise was formalised by decree in September, which mandated an 80% reduction in the cost of DSL bandwidth to the consumer, an increase in retail broadband speeds by between four and eight times – up to 8Mbps – and a rise in monthly download limits. On 1 October 2011 state-run incumbent telco Ogero announced the launch of new internet packages, including a minimum 1Mbps ADSL service across ‘the majority’ of the country for its retail end-users and wholesale ISP customers. Upgrades to another cable system, Cadmos, will also boost the country’s available bandwidth, helping to raise speeds and lower prices.

Meanwhile, in the same presentation, the TRA revealed that the price of 3G mobile services in Lebanon is between 23% and 25% higher than average across the Arab world. The official launch of commercial 3G mobile broadband services took place in the country on 1 November 2011, courtesy of the two state-owned cellcos Alfa and MTC Touch. In subsequent stages of 3G development, the TRA said, the two cellcos will leverage economies of scale to significantly reduce prices as 3G device ownership increases.

The Royal Gazette Online reports that domestic internet service providers (ISPs) in Bermuda intend to increase end-user broadband access speeds without making them pay for the upgrade. Late last week a number of local providers confirmed plans to offer customers free upgrades on their DSL services from 6Mbps (download) to 8Mbps. Incumbent Bermuda Telephone Company (BTC) confirmed that the upgrade will be underway by the end of this month, and added that it is also looking to introduce a 10Mbps service. Meanwhile, ISP North Rock says it will honour BTC’s ‘free’ upgrade. ‘North Rock’s 6Mbps DSL rate is BMD119.95 per month and BTC is offering these customers to upgrade to 8Mbps DSL at no additional charge. We will also honour this and move them from 6Mbps DSL to 8Mbps DSL for the same BMD119.95 [USD119.95] per month price,’ it said. The ISP is also looking to offer the 10Mbps service from BTC, which will be priced at BMD129.95 per month, it added.

BTC has been looking to launch higher speed services for some time and in the summer received approval from the government to launch the new 8Mbps and 10Mbps options. At the time, critics expressed concern that the incumbent was looking to forge ahead with higher speed services, rather than upgrade slower services – as is the trend in other countries.

Meanwhile, Bermudan cable services provider CableVision says it has also applied to increase its broadband internet access speeds. The firm’s manager Terry Roberson says that the group has recently submitted a request to the Telecommunications Communications vis a vis approval for a 20Mbps service. Although the price of the new service has not been disclosed, the paper notes that CableVision’s Ultimate High Speed Internet package costs BMD55 per month for an 8Mbps connection, excluding the ISP’s charge.

Claro has activated its first mobile lines in Costa Rica. Claro has also opened its first mobile shops at six local shopping centres located in Heredia, Alajuela, Escazu and Tres Rios (La Union), Inside Costa Rica reports, citing Ricardo Taylor, head of Claro's operations in Costa Rica. Claro's network currently covers the Greater Metropolitan Area, and will be gradually expanded across the country.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera has signed a bill which aims to create a Superintendency of Telecommunications to better protect consumer’s rights and resolve issues between companies and consumers, reports the country’s telecoms regulator Sub-Secretaria de Telecomunicaciones (Subtel). The new office’s responsibilities were listed as: monitoring compliance with regulations and, where necessary, administering punitive measures; participating in the delivery and removal of licences; ensuring proper use of spectrum; and collecting information on the sector and regulating tariffs. It will also be given greater powers, including an increase of 1000% to the maximum fines that can be issued to telcos that break regulations. The Superintendency will not replace Subtel, but exist alongside the current watchdog. Having been given presidential approval, the bill will now pass to congress for discussion before being passed into law.

The signing of the bill was marked by the completion of the first stage of Chile’s move to remove charges for domestic long-distance (DLD) calls. The regions of Los Lagos and Los Rios joined Valparaiso, Maule, Biobio, Atacama and Coquimbo, where the policy has already been implemented. The second and final phase is due to be completed by the end of 2013 and will complete the removal of DLD charges.

Chile has completed the first phase of the process of elimination of domestic long-distance charges. The process will see the number of calling zones reduced initially to 13 from 24, and in a second stage will eliminate all zones for a single nationwide calling area. According to Chilean telecoms regulator Subtel, this first stage has benefitted around 6 million customers in the regions of Valparaiso, El Maule, Bio Bio, Atacama, Coquimbo, Los Lagos, and Los Rios. The charges are expected to be completely eliminated by 2013.

­Asia-Pacific is forecast to become the largest market for machine-to-machine (M2M) subscriptions in volume terms in 2013, and in 2016 is expected to account for 37 percent of the total market, according to a new report from Pyramid Research.

"China is the key market in the region, where the government is driving the adoption of smart meters in order to better manage the growth in demand for energy," says Pyramid Research Analyst at Large, Jan ten Sythoff. However, adoption in most other large, emerging countries in the region is more limited, with operators focused on cost reduction, capacity management and subscription acquisition.

"Total subscriptions are expected to increase from 18.4 million in 2010 to 104.8 million in 2016. During this time, revenues are expected to increase from $423 million to $1.80 billion, representing a CAGR of 27.3 percent," he notes.

Azercell and Bakcell, the two largest mobile operators in terms of subscribers in Azerbaijan, have been awarded 3G licences by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT). As per reports, both the operators have rolled out the required infrastructure are may introduce the 3G services in the coming months. Prior to this, Azerfon was the only telecom operator in the country licensed to provide 3G services. The company received the license in December 2009 for $ 13,900 and launched its 3G network across Baku and other man cities in the same month. As per sources, the ministry has also asked all three mobile operators to submit proposals for providing Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile broadband services.

As per reports, communications and IT minister Ali Abbasov had said a couple of months back that the procedure for issuing licenses to these operators was in its last phase and only few minor technical issues were remaining for the operators to resolve to fulfill all the licensing requirements.

MTN South Africa has reportedly entered into agreements with other operators in an attempt to increase its fibre footprint. As per reports, Africa’s leading telecom operator has signed agreements with Metro Fibre Networx in Gauteng and Neotel and Ethekweni Metroconnect in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal regions.

Justin Colyn, General Manager, MTN Business has reportedly said that the firm will also use capacity from Telkom South Africa Wholesale to connect businesses in areas that do not have a fibre footprint. He also said that as a provider focused on offering customers the best when it comes to technology innovation and standards, MTN Business has been and continues to remain focused on building their own solid fibre network infrastructure. Having recognised that the last mile fibre access is still proving to be a barrier for many businesses, particularly smaller ones, MTN Business have developed further strategic partnerships with various fibre providers in an attempt to continually offer the customer a 360 degree communications service that has no restrictions in terms of location.

Vodafone UK has launched a new marketing campaign worth $3.2 million in an attempt to increase mobile internet usage. According to reports, the campaign targets both postpaid as well as prepaid segments and focuses on the simple services that help improve a user’s daily life.

The campaign reportedly features four service elements which include Vodafone’s unlimited data offer for the first three months on new contract plans; a service that transfers customers’ contacts and media on to their new phones; the Buyback scheme allowing customers to trade in their old phones; and the Sure Signal, that enables customers to boost the mobile signal in their homes. According to industry reports, as much as half of the population in UK owns a smartphone, which is beneficial for mobile operators as date services generate higher margins as compared to regular phones and voice plans.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has cut down the interconnection charges for short messaging service (SMS) among telecom operators, in an attempt to provide users with more affordable rates for sending text messages. According to reports, the regulatory authority has ordered that the interconnection charge for SMS between two separate telecommunications networks should not exceed $0.003 (15 centavos) per SMS through its Memorandum Circular No. 02-10-2011. Consequently, the new rates will come down by $0.005 (20 centavos) from $0.008 (35 centavos).

As per sources, Gamaliel Cordoba, NTC Commissioner has said that the enactment of the new SMS interconnection rates was in line was in line with the provisions of the Public Telecommunications Policy Act of the Philippines, which seeks the establishment of fair and reasonable interconnection among public operators and other telecommunications service providers at reasonable and fair cost. He further said that the reduced SMS interconnection rate would translate to lower retail price of text messaging services and make the popular telecommunication services more accessible and affordable to a greater number of people throughout the country. Currently, telecom operators charge a rate of $0.002 (10 centavos) per text message within their network, however the rates for messages sent across different operators increase with the additional cost of the network receiving the text message along with the interconnection charge of $0.008 (35 centavos) per message.

Further, under the same circular, network operators were also ordered to ensure that they have the adequate facilities required to guarantee that 99 percent of the text messages reach their destination within 30 seconds of being sent. In order to achieve this, it is proposed that all networks involved in the interconnection should provide the required links or circuits to effectively handle their SMS traffic.

Fin­land's telecoms regulator, Ficora has issued instructions that consumer contracts will have to carry more accurate information about mobile and landline based broadband speeds.

The speed included in the contract must depict the True speed range of the connection with sufficient precision. The regulator said that it is not sufficient to only express the maximum speed or theoretical maximum speed of the broadband connection. In the future, the speed range must be expressed either by using the average data transmission speed or the range of data transmission speed with unambiguous minimum and maximum caps. The speed must be defined so that the promised quality can also be delivered during rush hour or during any sequence of maximum of four hours.

For mobile broadband, Ficora stresses the importance of up-to-date coverage maps and access to information on how different network technologies affect the connection speed.Telecom operator contract terms must be updated

Ficora's statement is related to the amendment to the Communications Market Act, which entered into force in early 2011. The Act requires that consumer contracts on broadband services must always include the speed range of data transmission.

Despite having slightly over 600,000 inhabitants, Montenegro has decided to call a tender for a fourth mobile telephony operator. The tender was announced by Montenegro's Agency for Electronic Communications which said it expects Arab, Chinese, Austrian and British companies to participate in the tender. Bids can be submitted until 15 December. Offers will be evaluated based on the financial bid (70 points), the technical solution and plan for network implementation (20 points), and the contribution to market competition (10 points). Spectrum in the 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz bands is available with the licence.

According to industry research reports, the mobile data usage in India has gone up by almost 35 percent between June 2011 and September 2011. Sources suggest that analysts have credited the rise in data usage to increased availability and affordable pricing, not just for people living in urban areas, but for people from different income segments.

As per reports, there were a total of 26 million mobile internet users in March 2011 which went up to 35 million in September 2011. Industry analysts predict tremendous growth in mobile data usage and expect this number to increase to 41 million users by the year end.

India saw the introduction of the 3G services towards the end of last year, which has increased the use of the internet on mobile handsets, due to increased speeds and better features. Further, easy accessibility and competitive pricing are significant in contributing towards the increased adoption of the mobile phone in the country.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has cut down the interconnection charges for short messaging service (SMS) among telecom operators, in an attempt to provide users with more affordable rates for sending text messages. According to reports, the regulatory authority has ordered that the interconnection charge for SMS between two separate telecommunications networks should not exceed $0.003 (15 centavos) per SMS through its Memorandum Circular No. 02-10-2011. Consequently, the new rates will come down by $0.005 (20 centavos) from $0.008 (35 centavos).

As per sources, Gamaliel Cordoba, NTC Commissioner has said that the enactment of the new SMS interconnection rates was in line was in line with the provisions of the Public Telecommunications Policy Act of the Philippines, which seeks the establishment of fair and reasonable interconnection among public operators and other telecommunications service providers at reasonable and fair cost. He further said that the reduced SMS interconnection rate would translate to lower retail price of text messaging services and make the popular telecommunication services more accessible and affordable to a greater number of people throughout the country. Currently, telecom operators charge a rate of $0.002 (10 centavos) per text message within their network, however the rates for messages sent across different operators increase with the additional cost of the network receiving the text message along with the interconnection charge of $0.008 (35 centavos) per message.

Further, under the same circular, network operators were also ordered to ensure that they have the adequate facilities required to guarantee that 99 percent of the text messages reach their destination within 30 seconds of being sent. In order to achieve this, it is proposed that all networks involved in the interconnection should provide the required links or circuits to effectively handle their SMS traffic.

Brazil ended the month of September with 227.4 million active mobile phones, a 1.49 percent increase compared with the 224 million handsets in operation in August, according to Anatel. During the month, 3.3 million new mobile subscribers were added in the country, and the penetration rate rose from 114.88 percent in August to 116.51 percent in September.

In the first nine months of the year, the mobile service recorded more than 24.4 million new subscribers, an increase of 12.03 percent in the year. Of all mobile phones in operation in the country, 185.6 million were prepaid (81.64%) and 41.7 million postpaid (18.36%). 3G services were used by nearly 34.5 million people, representing growth of 67.19 percent in the year. 3G mobile handsets reached 27.2 million, or 11.98 percent of the market, and 3G modems numbered 7.25 million. Vivo ended September with 67.03 million subscribers, followed by TIM Brasil with 59.20 million, Claro with 57.61 million, and Oi with 42.84 million.

According to Morocco’s telecoms regulator, the ANRT, mobile subscribers in the country reached a total of 36.15 million at the end of September 2011, up by 3.4% quarter-on-quarter and 18.5% in twelve months. In terms of market share, at that date the watchdog reported that Maroc Telecom accounted for 46.9% of subscribers, Meditel 32.8% and Wana nearly 20.3%. Also at 30 September, the ANRT said that Moroccan 3G mobile internet services had 2.33 million subscribers, up from 1.82 million the previous quarter and 1.16 million a year earlier.

At the end of the third quarter Maroc Telecom claimed 39.9% of the 3G broadband market, giving it 929,500 subscribers, followed by Meditel with 829,000 (35.6%) and Wana with 24.5%, or 570,000 3G mobile internet accounts.

The figures include combined 3G voice and data mobile package users (handsets, computers and other devices). Subscriptions to data-only 3G mobile broadband services (e.g. via USB dongle modem) at end-September amounted to 1.403 million (60.2% of the 3G internet total), up by 9.5% quarter-on-quarter, while combined voice-plus-data package users reportedly reached 926,000 (39.8% of the 3G total), a growth rate of 73.1% from the end of June 2011. Fixed ADSL broadband lines in Morocco (nearly all operated by Maroc Telecom) saw a quarterly increase in 3Q11 of 4.5% to reach a total of 550,500.

South Korean communications provider KT will stop investing in its fixed-line telephony services as mobile and internet communications are growing. The company will instead focus on smartphones and other mobile internet devices, the Korea Times reports. Seo Yu-yeol, head of KT's home customers division, said there was "no future" in fixed-line telephony services. "In just over a year, KT added 10 million smartphone customers and I think that's very inspiring. Fixed-line voice services have been KT's bread-and-butter business for a long period and have contributed greatly to the nation's economic development. However, it's clearly a thing of the past," Seo said.

The US Federal Communications Commission has approved major changes in the country's Universal Service Fund aimed at focusing more on broadband expansion. The move will set aside USD 4.5 billion of the annual USF budget for the Connect America Fund, to award funding for broadband expansion in underserved areas. Carriers will start receiving the new funding by early 2012 and will be required to provide at least 4Mbps download and 1Mbps upload, with latency low-enough to support streaming and VoIP. Starting from 2013, the FCC will also change its cost model for determining the level of funding, adopt a competitive bidding system for awarding the funds, and tighten controls to ensure subsidised operators meet the coverage promised.

The FCC will also start a Mobility Fund to support mobile voice and broadband coverage in outlying areas. This will award an initial USD 350 million via a reverse auction planned for Q3 2012 and is expected to have a further annual budget of around USD 500 million. At the same time the FCC announced plans to move the industry away from interconnection fees and towards a bill-and-keep system. In the near term, it plans new rules to prevent traffic-pumping, a technique used by operators to increase terminatation revenue.

Over the next ten years, operators will be forced to gradually reduce terminate rates to zero, a move the FCC also expects to encourage the move to IP networks. The FCC expects the USF reforms will bring broadband to another 7 million Americans over the next six years. While consumers may see a small increase in their phone bills as a result of the changes, the FCC expects for every USD 1 extra charged, there will be USD 3 in benefits. The plans were largely welcomed by the telecoms industry, although mobile payers called for a bigger role for the Mobility Fund, and the cable industry saw too big a focus on copper networks.

­The Croatian Parliament has decided to abolish the 6% tax on mobile network service revenues as of 1 January 2012.

On 1 August 2009 a 6% tax was introduced for all mobile operators in Croatia as a measure against the economic crisis. The tax was applicable on revenues generated by mobile services, i.e. voice, SMS and MMS, and was payable by the mobile operator.

Vipnet, the Croatian subsidiary of Telekom Austria Group, recorded a mobile tax expense of EUR 15.2 million in the full year 2010.

­Tests at a school beside an informal electronic waste salvage site in Ghana's capital Accra reveal contamination due to lead, cadmium and other health-threatening pollutants over 50 times higher than risk-free levels.

A produce market, a church headquarters and a soccer field are likewise polluted to varying degrees, all neighbours of the Agbogbloshie scrap metal site, where electronic trash is scavenged for valuable metals - especially copper. Schoolchildren as young as six work around bonfires of circuitry, plastic and other leftover high-tech trash.

Ironically, experts say critical metals and other elements in all that destroyed equipment -- much of it castoffs from Europe and North America -- may soon be in short supply, which threatens to drive up the cost of products ranging from flat-screen TVs and mobile phones to electric cars and wind turbines.

The contamination test results were shared by Ghana researcher Atiemo Sampson at this year's Solving the E-waste Problem (StEP-Initiative) Summer School, hosted in Europe by Philips and Umicore for 20 of the field's most promising international graduate researchers.

The sampling -- for iron, magnesium, copper, zinc, cadmium, chromium, nickel and lead -- showed dangerous contamination at the school and market; both had levels roughly half those measured at the site where the e-waste is incinerated. In soil around the school site alone, measurements of lead were 12 times higher and cadmium 2.5 times higher than the levels at which intervention is required.

Mr. Sampson adds that similar e-waste sites are being created elsewhere in Ghana.

Click here to see full article

New rules in Ghana expected

"Until now, Ghana has not regulated the importation and management of e-waste," says Mr. Sampson, who in addition to his research with Ghana's Atomic Energy Commission and PhD pursuit at the University of Ghana, is working on a Diploma in International Environmental Law through UNITAR. "Although Ghana is a signatory to the Basel Convention (which regulates the import and export of hazardous wastes), rules are only now being incorporated into our national legal framework. The government hopes to have new rules in place next year."

The value of the elements in e-waste can be high: 100,000 cell phones, for example, contain an estimated 2.4 kg (5 lb, or $130,000 worth) of gold, more than 900 kg (2,000 lb, or $100,000 worth) of copper, and 25 kg (55 lb, or $27,300 worth) of silver -- more than $250,000 if all was recovered.

"The sheer number of people engaged in informal recycling in the Agbogbloshie scrap yard makes it increasingly unthinkable politically to eject them from that location," adds Mr. Sampson.

"The livelihood of many people now depends on the income generated by these activities at e-waste scrap yards. Therefore any solution must recognize their role and focus on improving health, safety and environmental standards."

While international shipments of electronic trash are outlawed by international agreement, European and North American e-waste nonetheless makes it way to Africa and Asia. Unscrupulous handlers often incorporate e-waste into cargo containers, along with functional and reusable equipment, the import-export of which is permitted.

A Ghanaian government study this year reported that in 2009 the country imported some 215,000 tons of electronics, 70% of which were used items. Of the 70%, some 15% were trash. And many of the usable products become e-waste relatively quickly due to their shorter lifespan compared to new items.

The report says the informal recycling sector does a disproportionate amount of harm to the environmental and human health of Ghanians and recommended further development of a legal framework for electronics importation and responsible processing.

Other participants in the StEP Summer School, convened from all world continents, reciprocated insights and experiences from their respective countries. Chinese researcher Xinwen Chis, for example, detailed intricate patterns of collaboration between the country's emerging, formal state-of-the art recyclers and the informal recycling entrepreneurs. Other discussions included, for example, Latin American initiatives to create a permanent platform for regional collaboration and sharing of best e-waste management practices and a Costa Rican e-waste take-back regulation, the first of its kind in the region.

Closing the resource loop -- in other words, preventing the loss of the valuable elements in e-waste through efficient recycling, public and stakeholder mobilization, and better product design -- was the theme of the 2011 StEP E-waste Summer School.

PhD researchers and Masters students from all continents and different disciplines were engaged in an active program of study tours, lectures with industry leaders, and an exchange of research findings. Stops in Eindhoven, Netherlands, and Antwerp, Belgium, included interacting with industry leaders, recyclers, representatives from the European Commission, Interpol, academics, policy makers, civil servants and NGO leaders.

Together, participants developed the idea of a Critical Metals Stewardship Model, presented and discussed with fellow participants at the World Resources Forum in Davos, Switzerland:

Encourage recovery of critical metals worldwide, through socially and environmentally sustainable recycling.Maximise the collection of devices and the recovery of critical metals. The group found little incentive to recover many critical elements because primary production remains relatively inexpensive.Promote recyclability of critical metals in product design.

Among the students' conclusions:

Current global processes do not yet favor the recovery and conservation of critical metals from e-waste.

Technological issues: Many regions lack adequate technology and training. And, even where adequate technologies exist, the sheer sophistication of products and the use of ever smaller quantities of elements makes it increasingly difficult and expensive to recover them.

Economic issues: Commodity markets fail to distinguish between recycled and raw materials. As long as the price for primary critical metals remains low (and fails to include a recycling expense), there is little incentive to refine such elements.

Political issues: In many places, greater leadership and political will is needed to regulate e-waste management and enforce existing laws and regulations.

E-waste leadership emerging

"While great strides are being made by leaders among industry and governments to collect and recycle e-waste, further interventions in the form of regulations, standards or product take-back and labelling schemes, for example, are essential to effect some of the additional progress required," says Ruediger Kuehr, the StEP Initiative Executive Secretary.

Philips, is now applying "life cycle thinking" as it re-engineers and designs some of its products with insights from recyclers to facilitate metal recovery. Other manufacturers are incorporating more recycled content into their equipment (metals and plastics), while some are actively recovering key elements, such as phosphors from lamps, ensuring continuity in their supply chain.

Umicore, meanwhile, is pioneering the complex processes involved in extracting various metals from e-waste, including many scarce and valuable metals. At a state-of-the-art facility near Antwerp, Belgium, Umicore recovers more than 17 metals from mobile phones, printed circuit boards and rechargeable batteries.

Rolf Widmer of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA): "We might delay the predicted shortage of certain metals such as indium if governments today helped even the playing field and promoted the recycling and use of secondary critical metals." Currently, less than 1% of indium is recycled from end-of-life products.

Dr. Kuehr notes that, "in addition to the annual e-waste school for students, a similar educational forum is needed geared towards policy makers and their environmental protection agencies. Policy makers of today would benefit and it could help start a transition on situations like the Agbogbloshie scrap yard. The StEP-Initiative is working on extending its global capacity building activities in collaboration with other partners."

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has threatened to fine the country’s three largest mobile operators by subscribers – MTN Nigeria, Globacom and Airtel Nigeria – if they fail to improve the quality of their services by the end of November, local newspaper This Day reports. Following an independent monitoring exercise carried out by the NCC across the country, the regulator determined that the trio failed to measure up to key performance indicators, including call setup success rate and call completion rate.

The NCC has subsequently given the three GSM operators a 30-day deadline, effective 1 November 2011, to improve their service quality. If they fail to do so, the cellcos face a fine of NGN5 million (USD31,000) and an additional penalty of NGN500,000 per day if the provision of poor quality services persists. In addition, any of the three operators that fail to meet the targets from 30 November 2011 will be barred from the further sale of SIM cards or addition of any new subscribers to its network.

Having bagged what its parent company noted was its first third-generation concession in Central Africa, Airtel Congo, a subsidiary of Indian telecoms giant Bharti Airtel, has announced the launch of 3.5G services in the country. According to IT News Africa, the cellco has rolled out HSPA technology, offering theoretical downlink speeds of up to 21Mbps, with Beston Tshinsele, managing director at Airtel Congo stating of the development: ‘We are grateful to the Republic of Congo, represented by The Honorable Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and New Technology of Communications Thierry Moungalla today, for issuing the licence through the country’s regulator – [the] Agence de Regulation des Postes et des Communications Electroniques – and sharing our vision of enhancing the country’s telecommunication platform … Our 3G platform will allow subscribers to combine the enormous potential of the internet with the convenience of cellular phones and other devices.’

Tiemoko Coulibaly, CEO of Airtel Africa Francophone, meanwhile outlined the Indian company’s wider expectations for 3G deployment across Africa, noting: ‘3G technology will give our customers the opportunity to interact with data in a different way … This is why Airtel doesn’t see 3G as a product but a platform that enables the community expand its social and commercial horizons, alongside the rest of the world.’ According to the executive Airtel expects to continue rolling out 3G technology across all regions of operation in Africa with the objective of building the largest 3G network on the continent.

In order to achieve these goals, and as previously reported by CommsUpdate, last month it was revealed that Finnish telecommunications equipment vendor Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) had inked a deal with Bharti Airtel to expand the operator’s 2G infrastructure and deploy 3G networks in seven African countries. Under the agreement, NSN agreed to manage end-to-end network operations, including planning, designing and implementing the 2G and 3G networks for Airtel in the markets of Madagascar, Malawi, Congo Brazzaville, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. The vendor will provide its energy-efficient Flexi Multiradio Base Stations to expand network coverage to underserved areas, including smaller towns and villages in the seven countries. NSN is using its FlexiHybrid microwave radio to address growing data traffic and provide the platform for a cost-effective transition to 3G, and potentially 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks in the future. The company will also provide its NetAct network management system for effective network monitoring and management.

Mississippi-based mobile operator C Spire Wireless (formerly known as Cellular South) has announced that it plans to expand CDMA2000 1xEV-DO mobile broadband coverage to 238 additional cell sites in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee by the end of 2011, as part of its continuing network expansion initiative. The commitment to extending 3G coverage will see services offered to 61 new cities in an estimated USD10 million upgrade. The improvements mean that, going forward, advanced mobile broadband services will be available to approximately 4.7 million consumers and businesses.

Kevin Hankins, chief operating officer for C Spire Wireless, commented: ‘Wireless devices are only as good as the network on which they work, which is why we are aggressively expanding our advanced mobile broadband coverage. We want consumers and businesses to have the best possible wireless experience, whether they are making a phone call, sending a text message, sharing videos and photos, checking the latest scores or making their business mobile’. Hankins claims that the cellco has invested in excess of USD1 billion in network improvements since 2003.

The UN's Broadband Commission for Digital Development has agreed on a set of four "ambitious but achievable" new targets for countries to target in broadband policy, affordability and uptake. The first aims to make broadband policy universal and targets a national broadband plan or strategy in all countries by 2015. This can also mean the inclusion of broadband in their universal access/service definitions. To make broadband affordable, the commission called for developing countries to take steps to ensure regulation and market forces provide for entry-level broadband services, for example, at a cost of less than 5 percent of average monthly income. This should support the third goal of 40 percent of households in developing countries with internet access by 2015. The final goal is 60 percent worldwide internet user penetration by 2015, including 50 percent in developing countries and 15 percent in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

The targets were unveiled at the ITU Telecom World event in Geneva. The commission set up last year is co-chaired by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Carlos Slim Helu, chairman and CEO of Telmex and America Movil. The ITU will undertake responsibility for measuring each country’s progress towards the targets, producing an annual broadband report with rankings of nations worldwide in terms of broadband policy, affordability and uptake.

The 'Broadband Challenge' endorsed by the commission recognizes communication as "a human need and a right", and calls on governments and private industry to work together to develop the innovative policy frameworks, business models and financing arrangements needed to facilitate growth in access to broadband worldwide. It urges governments to avoid limiting market entry and taxing ICT services unnecessarily to enable broadband markets to realize their full growth potential, and encourages governments to promote coordinated international standards for interoperability and to address the availability of adequate radio frequency spectrum. The Challenge stresses the need to stimulate content production in local languages and enhance local capacity to benefit from, and contribute to, the digital revolution.

Orange Botswana, the country’s second largest mobile operator by subscribers, has expanded its third-generation network to the cities of Lobatse and Serowe, reports cellular-news. TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database states that Orange Botswana commercially launched its 3G network in July 2009, with services initially available in the country’s two largest cities, Gaborone and Francistown.

UK-based Virgin Media has announced that it will launch wireless services in Chile as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the first quarter of 2012. Late last month Virgin received approval to offer services from the telecoms regulator Sub-Secretaria de Telecomunicaciones (Subtel).

Virgin will use the network of Spanish-based Telefonica Moviles Chile, which operates under the Movistar brand. As previously reported by CommsUpdate, the UK group is expecting to invest between USD20 million and USD25 million into its Chilean operations, and has its eyes on expansion elsewhere in the region with Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay, Colombia and Mexico high on the list of target markets.

­Lebanon's government has announced that the country's two mobile networks will be formally permitted to launch 3G services following several delays. Telecoms Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui also announced that the service would be fixed at the equivalent of US$19 for 500Mb of data downloads.

Lebanon's two state-owned - but francished operators, Alfra and MTC, will offer 3G subscriptions and will announce the rates for other packages in early November. There had been concerns earlier this summer that legal action from an ISP, Cedarcom could delay the launch as it is claiming that the government doesn't have the authority to issue the 3G licenses.

The company also claimed that the regulatory regime is blocking it from selling landline DSL based services, which it considers to be unfair and unjust competition. The two networks, which while state-owned, are managed by two private companies, Zain and Orascom Telecom, recently awarded contracts to deploy HSPA enabled 3G networks. The managing companies have renewing one-year contracts to look after the networks - which the government has repeatedly attempted to privatise but the sale has been blocked by political problems.

Azercell and Bakcell, the two largest mobile operators in terms of subscribers in Azerbaijan, have been awarded 3G licences by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT). As per reports, both the operators have rolled out the required infrastructure are may introduce the 3G services in the coming months. Prior to this, Azerfon was the only telecom operator in the country licensed to provide 3G services. The company received the license in December 2009 for $ 13,900 and launched its 3G network across Baku and other man cities in the same month. As per sources, the ministry has also asked all three mobile operators to submit proposals for providing Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile broadband services.

As per reports, communications and IT minister Ali Abbasov had said a couple of months back that the procedure for issuing licenses to these operators was in its last phase and only few minor technical issues were remaining for the operators to resolve to fulfill all the licensing requirements.

Industry sources claim that owing to rapid technology upgradation and the increase in the number of smartphone users, British consumers are likely to spend as much as $30.5 billion by 2021 on purchases through their mobile handsets. As per reports, the mobile purchases currently account for $1.8 billion, with almost $417 million comprising of mobile sales from the food and groceries category.

Sources claim that mobile commerce is expected to grow by 55 percent over the next five years. Innovations such as Near Field Communications (NFC) and faster mobile data transmission play an important role in the success of mobile commerce, by offering users a more secure and convenient way to pay for goods and services. In order to better provide mobile payment services to their customers, network operators O2, Everything Everywhere and Vodafone joined forces to offer users a single system of paying for goods and services via mobile phones.

US mobile operators have agreed new guidelines to send customers free alerts before and after they exceed their monthly limits on voice, data and texts. Customers will also get alerts on roaming charges when they travel abroad. The alerts will apply automatically unless subscribers opt out. The measures were agreed by the industry group CTIA and the FCC, as part of the CTIA 'Consumer Code for Wireless Service'. Operators will need to provide two out of the four alerts by 17 October 2012 and all four by 17 April 2013. As a result of the agreement, the FCC has agreed to suspend its regulatory proposal for making the alerts mandatory.

EriTel, Eritrea’s state-owned incumbent telecoms operator, has expanded its wireless network to the town of Afabet, local newspaper Shabait reports. EriTel was established by the government in October 2003, replacing Eritrea Telecommunications Service (ETS) as the national telecoms operator. It holds a monopoly on the provision of fixed line and mobile services and also operates as an internet service provider (ISP).

Croatia’s government is seeking parliamentary approval to scrap the country’s ‘special tax’ on mobile phone services, reports Reuters. The 6% tax was introduced in 2009 as a measure to help plug the public deficit, but the government has proposed removing it from 1 January 2012. Finance Minister Martina Dalic told a cabinet session: ‘Such a tax does not exist in the countries whose companies own the operators in Croatia [Swedish Tele2, Germany’s T-Mobile and Telekom Austria-backed VIPnet] and one of its consequences was a reduction of investments in the telecom industry. Scrapping the tax paves way for lower prices and more investments in this area.’

The European Commission has proposed to spend almost €9.2 billion from 2014 to 2020 on pan-European projects to give EU citizens and businesses access to high-speed broadband networks and the services that run on them. The funding, part of the proposed Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), would take the form of both equity and debt instruments and grants. It would complement private investment and public money at local, regional and national level and EU structural or cohesion funds. At least €7 billion would be available for investment in high-speed broadband infrastructure.

The Commission considers that this money could leverage a total of between €50 and 100 billion of public and private investment – i.e. a substantial proportion of the estimated €270 billion of broadband investment needed to meet Digital Agenda targets on broadband. The remaining CEF funding for digital infrastructure would support public interest digital service infrastructure such as electronic health records, electronic identification and electronic procurement. The proposed financial support is complemented by proposed new guidelines for trans-European telecommunications networks and services. These guidelines would establish new objectives, priorities, projects of common interest and criteria for identifying further projects of common interest.

Money for broadband infrastructure

In the case of broadband infrastructure, EU funding from the CEF would leverage other private and public money by giving projects credibility and lowering their risk profiles. The money would be largely in the form of equity, debt or guarantees. This would then attract capital market financing from investors; the Commission and international financial institutions such as the European Investment Bank would absorb part of the risk and improve projects' credit rating.

Projects are likely to be proposed by established telecoms operators as well as new players such as water, sewage, electricity utilities, cooperative investment projects or construction firms. Many projects are likely to involve several of these investors clubbing together. The Commission also expects public authorities to join projects as part of public-private partnerships.

­The mobile subscribe base in Armenia has been reduced by 680,000 customers to 3.27 million, a member of the Committee regulating public service of Armenia Samvel Arabajyan has announced.

The change is a clarification of what constitutes an active subscriber on a network - and this has been tightened to a three month limit, after which if the SIM card is not being used, the account is deemed to be dormant. As a result of the changes, Vivacell subscribers' decreased by 450,000 to just over 2 million. Orange's subscriber base decreased by 230,000 to 520,000 customer

ArmenTel did not change its statistics, as it already used the 3-month limit for its calculations. It has around 750,000 customers.

Fixed broadband service revenue will generate over USD 182 billion this year end, according to a study by ABI Research. Despite uncertainty of the global economic situation, fixed broadband subscriber numbers are continuing to grow steadily. The availability of mobile broadband services is also causing a slight decline in the growth of fixed broadband net addition. Net broadband subscriber additions are increasing in the markets. China and India in the Asia-Pacific, Russia in Eastern Europe and Brazil in Latin America are the markets with potential for growth. These countries will be the major contributors to fixed broadband subscriber growth over the next five years.

However, net subscriber additions are declining slowly in some of the mature markets such as Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands. Over the past few years, increasing competition in the market has pressured broadband operators to lower subscription prices. Affordable pricing plans attract more customers and enable broadband operators in market expansion. Broadband operators are trying to provide access to maintain Arpu growth. Subscriber migration to access options including FTTH, VDSL, and Docsis 3.0 technologies will enable operators to raise broadband Arpu. Overall, fixed broadband penetration across each region of the world is expected to grow over the next few years. Revenue from worldwide fixed broadband will surpass USD 216 billion in 2016.

Gabon’s Agence de Regulation des Telecommunications (ARTEL) has awarded a 3G mobile licence to the country’s largest cellco by subscribers, Airtel Gabon (formerly Zain), which is aiming to launch the country’s first W-CDMA/HSPA network and high speed mobile internet/data services. ‘Official sources’ quoted by Afrique Info and reported by Telecompaper said that the 3G licence is the first of its kind awarded in the country, although TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database notes that Gabon’s fourth cellular licensee, Azur, was awarded a combined 2G and 3G concession in February 2009. However, Azur, which launched a commercial network in October 2009, currently offers only 2.5G GSM/GPRS services.

According to GlobalComms, Gabon’s government launched a 3G licence tender in July 2010, but the deadline for submissions to ARTEL passed two months later with no announcement of winners, and the next development did not occur until December that year when Airtel began discussions with the regulator with the aim of obtaining an UMTS concession. In the same month rival Libertis declared that it would be seeking to acquire a 3G licence ‘early in 2011’, following the finalisation of the cellcos’ parent Gabon Telecom’s 100% privatisation. Airtel and its competitors are keen to deploy third-generation services ahead of the January-February 2012 African Nations football tournament co-hosted by Gabon.

The information presented within this blog comes from various organizations around the world. ITU encourages users to seek more detailed information from the original source through the links provided.
Links to third-party websites are provided for the convenience of all users. The ITU is not responsible for the accuracy, currency or the reliability of the content on these third-party websites. ITU does not offer any guarantee in that regard nor does ITU endorse the third-party organizations, their sites or content.